William Howard Taft (1857-1930)

William Howard Taft (1857-1930), was the only man in the history of the United States who served first as President, then as Chief Justice. Taft did not want to be President. At heart, he was a judge and had little taste for politics. Above all, he wanted to be a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Taft, a Republican, spent most of the first 20 years of his career as a lawyer and judge. His mother recognized his distaste for politics. "I do not want my son to be President." she said. "His is a judicial mind and he loves the law." But Taft's wife opposed his career as a judge because she felt it was a "fixed groove."

In the end, Taft's mother proved to be right. Hardly any other President has been so unhappy in the White House. When Taft moved out of the Executive Mansion in 1913, he told incoming President Woodrow Wilson: "I'm glad to be going. This is the lonesomest place in the world." When he was appointed Chief Justice eight years later, Taft said it was the highest honor he had ever received. He wrote: "The truth is that in my present life I don't remember that I ever was President."

Taft was the largest man ever to serve as President. He stood 6 feet tall and weighed more than 300 pounds. A newspaperman wrote that he looked "like an American bison - a gentle, kind one." He had a mild, pleasant personality, but he clung firmly to what he considered the rugged virtues. He did not smoke or drink. He was honest by nature, plain of speech, and straightforward in action. He was completely, and sometimes blindly, loyal to his friends and to his political party.

The modest Taft felt he was not fully qualified for the presidency. He had no gift of showmanship like his predecessor, President Theodore Roosevelt. Taft gave the public an adequate administration, but a poor show. Partly because of this, he failed to capture popular imagination, and many persons called him a failure as President.

During Taft's administration, most of the world was at peace. In Europe, the leading nations lined up in a balance of power that later led to World War I. In China, a revolution overthrew the imperial government and set up a republic. Explorers reached both the North Pole and the South Pole.

In the United States, the pace of life was speeding up. A majority of the people still lived on farms, but more and more were moving to cities. Women had won the right to vote in 12 states. Amendment 16 to the Constitution allowed Congress to pass a federal income tax, although it did not do so until Wilson's administration. The United States grew to 48 states with the admission of Arizona and New Mexico.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919)

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), was the youngest man ever to become president of the United States. He took office at the age of 42. Roosevelt had been vice president for only six months when President William McKinley was assassinated in September 1901. Roosevelt won wide popularity, and millions of Americans affectionately called him "Teddy" or "T.R." In 1904, the voters elected him to a full term as president. He ran for president again in 1912, as the "Bull Moose" party candidate, but lost to Woodrow Wilson.

Roosevelt was a man of great energy and practiced what he called the "strenuous life." He enjoyed horseback riding, swimming, hunting, hiking, and boxing. He often expressed enthusiasm for something by describing it as "bully." Cartoonists liked to draw Roosevelt with his rimless glasses, bushy mustache, prominent teeth, and jutting jaw. One cartoon showed him with a bear cub. Soon, toymakers were producing stuffed animals that are still known as "teddy bears."

As commander of the fearless Rough Riders, Roosevelt became a national hero during the Spanish-American War in 1898. He led this famous cavalry regiment against the Spaniards in Cuba. Roosevelt came home and won election as governor of New York. Two years later, he was elected vice president.

As president, Roosevelt used his power of leadership to help the United States meet challenges at home and abroad. "I did not usurp power," Roosevelt said, "but I did greatly broaden the use of executive power."

Roosevelt fought for reforms that would benefit the American people. He became known as a "trust buster" because he tried to limit the power of great business corporations. During his administration, Congress passed laws to regulate the railroads, to protect the public from harmful foods and drugs, and to conserve the nation's forests and other natural resources.

In foreign relations, Roosevelt worked to make the United States a world leader. He felt that this leadership must be supported by strong armed forces. He expressed his foreign policy as: "Speak softly and carry a big stick." Roosevelt strengthened the U.S. Navy, began the construction of the Panama Canal, and kept European nations from interfering in Latin America. He helped end the Russo-Japanese War, and became the first American to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

While Roosevelt was president, millions of Americans traveled by bicycle—even women in their sweeping, ankle-length skirts. But automobiles, along with electric lights and telephones, started to come into widespread use. Guglielmo Marconi and his staff sent and received the first radio message across the Atlantic Ocean, and a telegraph cable was laid across the Pacific to the Philippines. The air age was born when the Wright brothers flew the first successful airplane. Roosevelt enjoyed taking a ride in one of the early models.

Roosevelt regarded public life as a great stage. As president, he joyfully held the center of that stage. When Roosevelt left office, he wrote: "I do not believe that anyone else has ever enjoyed the White House as much as I have." He was probably right.

William McKinley (1843-1901)

William McKinley (1843-1901), helped shape the modern presidency and set the United States on a path toward world leadership. During his two administrations, the nation emerged from a depression. American soldiers and sailors won the Spanish-American War (1898). The United States took possession of Guam, Hawaii, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and part of American Samoa. Victory at war and control of new lands made the United States a world power, and thus also increased the power of the presidency.

McKinley led the Republican Party during the 1890's. He supported his party's belief in protective tariffs, taxes on imports to protect American industries from foreign competition. He and his party also promoted the growth of big business in the United States. McKinley succeeded President Grover Cleveland and twice defeated the well-known statesman William Jennings Bryan for the presidency. An assassin shot and killed McKinley about six months after the start of his second term, and Vice President Theodore Roosevelt became president. McKinley was the third president to be assassinated. The first two were Abraham Lincoln and James A. Garfield.

Following the hard times of the mid-1890's, McKinley's two administrations were filled with national optimism and confidence. The motion picture, the automobile, and the telephone were becoming part of everyday life. Businesses were growing, but social problems remained. Blacks faced segregation, violence, and lynchings in the South. Industrial workers labored an average of 59 hours a week. And women had full voting rights in only four states—Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming. There were already stirrings of a spirit of reform that would sweep through the United States after 1901.

History has not been kind to McKinley. Historians and political scientists have often underestimated his achievements as president. They have seen McKinley as a colorless, cautious president compared with more exciting leaders, such as Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. In fact, McKinley's presidency was a time of great change for the nation, and he did much to shape that change. He strengthened the powers of his office and expanded the nation's role in world affairs.

Benjamin Harrison (1833-1901)

Benjamin Harrison (1833-1901), was the only grandson of a president who also became president. He defeated President Grover Cleveland in 1888, but Cleveland regained the presidency by beating Harrison in 1892.

Harrison's grandfather was William Henry Harrison, the hero of the Battle of Tippecanoe. William Henry Harrison had died of pneumonia in 1841 after only one month as president. Benjamin Harrison, like his grandfather, was an Army commander and a United States senator before being elected to the presidency.

Harrison did more than any other president to increase respect for the flag of the United States. By his order, the flag waved above the White House and other government buildings. Harrison also urged that the flag be flown over every school in the land.

Congress passed the Sherman Antitrust Act and other landmark laws during Harrison's administration, and provided for the building of a two-ocean navy of steel ships. The American frontier disappeared as pioneers took over the last unsettled areas of the West. Six new states joined the Union.

Grover Cleveland (1837-1908)

Grover Cleveland (1837-1908), was the only president who served two terms that did not directly follow each other. He won the presidency in 1884, but lost it four years later to Benjamin Harrison. He ran against Harrison again in 1892 and won a second term. Cleveland was the first Democratic president elected after the American Civil War (1861-1865). This very fact showed that wartime issues had lost some of their force in defining party loyalties. Cleveland’s victory also was a protest against the politics-as-usual of the spoils system. His honesty and common sense helped restore confidence in the government. These qualities had served him in his earlier successes as a lawyer, sheriff, and mayor, and as governor of New York.

As president, Cleveland had the courage to say "No." He said it often—to farmers who sought easy money to pay their debts, to manufacturers who wanted high protective tariffs, and to veterans who wanted looser requirements for getting a pension. These "No's" made Cleveland unpopular in his time, but have added to the respect with which history holds him.

This big, good-humored man, called "Uncle Jumbo" by his relatives, occupied the White House during a time of swift social and economic change. The growing strength of labor unions and farm organizations created new problems for government.

Cleveland lacked the experience and vision to find completely satisfactory answers to all the problems. In 1894, he attempted to settle a labor strike by force—the legal force of court injunctions and the physical force of army troops. Cleveland clung steadfastly to his faith in "sound" money and a low tariff as a cure for the nation's other economic ills. Although Cleveland's intentions were good, his methods fell short of success.

The era of the western frontier was drawing to a close when Cleveland took office. Settlers in the southwestern United States breathed easier when federal troops captured the Apache warrior Geronimo. Jacob Riis shocked a complacent public with newspaper stories of how "the other half" lived in rundown slums.

During Cleveland’s second term, the Duryea brothers built America’s first automobile. A Kansas preacher, Charles M. Sheldon, wrote In His Steps (1896), one of the world’s all-time best sellers. Americans of the Gay Nineties enjoyed Victor Herbert’s early operettas. At the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, they applauded John Philip Sousa’s band and rode the first Ferris wheel ever built. But it was also a time of great hardship. The urban poor lived crowded together in slums. A depression slowed the economy to a near standstill, and unemployment soared.

Chester A. Arthur (1829-1886)

Chester A. Arthur (1829-1886), became president after James A. Garfield died from an assassin's bullet. Arthur was the fourth vice president to succeed to the presidency upon the death of a chief executive.

Arthur had risen rapidly in the Republican Party machine (organization) of New York City. In 1871, he became collector of the New York Custom House, then the largest single federal office in the United States. Widespread dishonesty in government occurred during this period, and Arthur used his office to reward Republicans and strengthen the party. These actions contributed to graft and waste in the custom house and led to his removal in 1878.

As president, however, Arthur surprised the nation by the honesty and efficiency shown by his administration. Protests by reformers about the dishonesty of previous administrations in the appointment of government officials caused Congress to pass the Civil Service Act. Arthur signed the law and administered it faithfully.

Arthur enjoyed fashionable surroundings and fine clothes. He also liked to entertain friends. Tall, ruddy, and handsome, Arthur was sometimes called the "Gentleman Boss." He traveled widely as president, attending the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City and touring Florida and Yellowstone National Park.

While Arthur was president, the United States celebrated the 100th anniversary of the British surrender at Yorktown. New books included The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain. Cities and towns throughout the United States and Canada began to adopt standard time after the railroads devised time zones to aid travelers.

James A. Garfield (1831-1881)

James A. Garfield (1831-1881), was the last president of the United States to be born in a log cabin. Nobody knows what kind of president he would have been because he was assassinated only a few months after taking office. Garfield, a Republican, was the fourth president to die in office. He was the second to be assassinated.

Possibly Garfield accomplished more by his death than if he had lived to complete his term. A major characteristic of national politics in his day was the spoils system. Under the spoils system, thousands of government employees were fired every time a new president took office. Garfield spent most of his short time as president filling these jobs with his political supporters. He was not a reformer, but he recognized the problems with the spoils system. He wrote in his diary, "Some civil service reform will come by necessity after the wearisome years of wasted presidents have paved the way for it." The assassination of Garfield by a disappointed jobseeker shocked the nation into action. Two years later, Congress began civil service reform with the Pendleton Civil Service Act.

Garfield was a big, athletic, handsome man. He had blond hair and a beard. Before becoming president, he was successful in a number of positions. He had been a professor, college president, Civil War general, and U.S. congressman. He spoke and wrote well, read widely, and even composed poetry. He occasionally entertained his friends by writing Greek with one hand and at the same time writing Latin with the other. Garfield was warmhearted and genial. He wanted to be well liked and generally was. But his eagerness to please everyone sometimes led him into questionable dealings with unscrupulous people.

Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-1893)

Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-1893), was elected President by a margin of only one electoral vote.His victory over Samuel J. Tilden in 1876 climaxed the most disputed presidential election in U.S. history. Congress had to create a special Electoral Commission to decide the winner.

Hayes was a studious, good-natured man who enjoyed books more than politics. Ohio Republicans nominated him for Congress while he was fighting in the Civil War. Hayes refused to campaign. He declared that any officer who "would abandon his post to electioneer for a seat in Congress, ought to be scalped." Hayes was elected, but did not take his seat until after the war. He later served three terms as governor of Ohio.

When Hayes became President, the nation was suffering from the business depression and the political scandals of the previous administration of Ulysses S. Grant. The unsolved problem of Reconstruction in the South still divided the American people, even though the Civil War had ended 12 years before. Hayes was not popular at first. Democrats charged he had "stolen" the election. His fellow Republicans were bitter because he refused to give special favors to party politicians.

By the time Hayes left office, most Americans respected him for his sincerity and honesty. He had promised to end Reconstruction, and he did. Within two months after he took office, he removed the last federal troops from statehouses in the South. Hayes also put the government on the path toward civil service reform. Throughout his career, Hayes tried to live by his motto: "He serves his party best who serves his country best."

During Hayes's administration, the United States continued its remarkable growth. The nation became more industrialized than ever before, and labor unions gained thousands of new members. The population of New York City soared above a million. Civil War General Lew Wallace won nationwide fame for his novel Ben-Hur. And Thomas A. Edison visited the White House to demonstrate his favorite invention, the phonograph.

Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885)

Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885), commanded the victorious Union armies at the close of the Civil War in 1865. His success and fame as a general led to his election as President in 1868. During his military career, Grant led his troops with energy and determination. He developed great confidence in his own judgment, and an ability to learn from experience. These traits also characterized Grant's political career. But the qualities which had brought him military glory were not enough to solve the nation's problems in the 1870's. Grant's enemies called him a poor President, and historians have generally agreed.

Grant was the first West Point graduate to become President. A quiet, unassuming man, he had an almost shy manner. He was short and stalky, and did not look like a leader of men. Clever and dishonest men used President Grant as a tool to promote their own evil schemes. His presidency was clouded by disgrace and dishonesty, partly because of his habit of trusting persons who pretended to be his friends. Congretional investigations revealed widespread corruption in both state and federal governments. A severe financial panic in 1873 caused the people to react against Grant. To many Americans, he symbolized the confusion and corruption of the times. Grant ignored the attacks on him and the Republican party. He believed that all the criticism came only from political opponents.

Two months after Grant became President in 1869, the nation's first transcontinental railroad was completed. In October, 1871, the great Chicago fire killed about 300 persons and left more than 90,000 homeless. In 1872, Congress established Yellowstone National Park, the first national park in the United States. Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876. That same year, in the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Sioux and Cheyenne warriors massacred about 225 men under General George A. Custer.

Andrew Johnson (1808-1875)

Andrew Johnson (1808-1875), who was impeached, became Chief Executive upon the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The Civil War had just ended. Johnson, a Democrat from Tennessee, wanted to carry out Lincoln's program of kind and generous treatment for the defeated Confederate States. But he faced a Republican Congress controlled by men determined to punish the South. Congress passed a series of harsh laws over Johnson's repeated vetoes. Feelings became so strong that the House of Representatives voted to impeach him. But the Senate failed by one vote to remove Johnson from office.

Johnson was one of the most unpopular Presidents. But the American people realized during his lifetime that he had been treated unjustly. Many historians feel that his acquittal in the impeachment trial saved the presidency from being weakened, with the President a mere figurehead.

The stocky Johnson was a typical man of the frontier. A tailor by profession, he was the only President who had never gone to school. His wife taught him how to write. Johnson had the touchy pride of a self-made man. Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, who had served with Johnson in the United States Senate, felt he had "the pride of having no pride."

A serious man, Johnson had neither tact nor humor. One contemporary said his face had "no genial sunlight in it." Johnson lacked Lincoln's skill in getting men to work together. But he was honest, brave, and intelligent. An unshakable faith in the Constitution guided his actions during his 20 years as a U.S. Representative, a governor, and a U.S. Senator. One of his lawyers at the impeachment trial wrote: "He is a man of few ideas, but they are right and true, and he could suffer death sooner than yield up or violate one of them."

During Johnson's term, the United States purchased Alaska, and Nebraska became a state. Southerners worked to repair their ruined towns and farms, and to reorganize their economy without slavery. The typewriter and the railroad refrigerator car were invented, and the first plastics were used in billiard balls. Mary Baker Eddy founded the Christian Science movement.  Newspapers gained increasing importance in politics, and Johnson became the first President to grant a reporter a formal interview.

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), was one of the truly great men of all time. He preserved the American Union during the Civil War, and proved to the world that democracy can be a lasting form of government. Lincoln's Gettyburg Address, and many of his other speeches and writings, are classic statements of democratic beliefs and goals. In conducting a bitter war, Lincoln never became bitter himself. He showed a nobility of character which continues to grow in world-wide appeal. Lincoln was the first President elected by the Republican party. After his assassination, he was succeeded by Vice-President Andrew Johnson.

The American people knew little about Lincoln when he became President. Nothing in his past experience indicated that he could meet successfully the greatest crisis in the nation's history. He received less than 40 percent of the popular vote. As President, Lincoln was often a careless, inefficient administrator. At times, he gave way to political pressures which he might better have resisted.

But these failings mattered little when compared with Lincoln's great merits. His outstanding asset was insight. Lincoln realized at the beginning of the Civil War that the Union must be saved. The United States was the only important democracy in the world. Lincoln knew that self-government would be proved a failure if the nation could be destroyed by a minority of its own people. He determined that the nation, and democracy, would not be destroyed.

Lincoln's second great asset was his ability to express his convictions so clearly, and with such force, that millions of his countrymen made them their own. This he did in his first and second inaugural addresses, in his annual messages to Congress, in the Gettyburg Address, and in his letters. Lincoln would have been surprised that some of his speeches came to be honored as great literature. He sought only to be understood, and to convince.

Lincoln's third great source of strength was his iron will. The Civil War had to be carried on until the Union was restored. At times, people in the North wavered in this purpose. Lincoln never doubted that in the end, right would make might, and the North would triumph. His unyielding faith in victory helped to win victory.

If the Union had not been preserved, the United States would have become two nations. Neither of these nations could have attained the prosperity and importance that the United States has today. Lincoln influenced the course of world history by his leadership of the North during the Civil War. His own life story has perhapos been just as important. He rose from humble origin to the nation's highest office. Millions of persons regard his career as proof that democracy offers all men the best hope of full and free life.

Life in the United States during Lincoln's administration revolved almost entirely around the Civil War. To raise money to fight the war, Congress levied the first income tax in the history of the country. For the first time, federal officeholders had to take an oath of loyalty to the Union. Pioneers flocked to the western frontier, and mining towns sprang up overnight. The government gave free farms to settlers, and set aside land for colleges that later became state universities.

Soldiers and civilians alike sang "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" or "Dixie." Winslow Homer's painting Prisoners from the Front brought him his first fame. Patriotic literature included John Greenleaf Whittier's poem "Barbara Frietchie" and Edward Everett Hale's story "The Man Without a Country." Lincoln and thousands of other Americans chuckled at the humorous writings of Artemus Ward.

James Buchanan (1791-1868)

James Buchanan (1791-1868), served as President in the critical years just before the Civil War. Many issues divided the nation, but slavery was the main cause of argument. Buchanan personally opposed slavery. But, as President, he insisted that the Constitution protected slavery and that the laws must be obeyed.

When 7 of the 15 slave states seceded in 1860-61, Buchanan refused to use force to hold them in the Union. He hoped they would grow discouraged and return to the Union. He felt that a warlike policy might cause all the slave states to secede, making a peaceful settlement impossible. His policy delayed the Civil War until after his successor, Abraham Lincoln, took office.

The only bachelor President, up to this time, Buchanan was almost 66 years old when he succeeded his fellow Democrat, Franklin
Pierce. The public respected him for his faithful public service in both houses of Congress, as Secretary of State, and in important diplomatic posts. People found him reserved at first meeting, but warm and friendly when they knew him better. His nephew described him as "tall - over six feet, broad shouldered, with a portly, dignified bearing ...; his eyes were blue, intelligent, and kindly, with the peculiarity that one was far and the other near sighted, which resulted in a slight habitual inclination of the head to one side ..."

The storm over slavery gathered during Buchanan's administration. Abolitionist authors aroused New England. The Lincoln-Douglas debates in Illinois focused attention on the moral wrongness of slavery. Adding to the national unrest, wild speculation in western land and railroads brought on an economic panic. Many banks, factories, and railroads failed. Thousands of unemployed workers stood in bread lines for free food.

On the brighter side, women wore lavish outfits with hoop skirts, and beaver hats trimmed with ostrich feathers. Pony express riders carried the mail through the expanding West. Queen Victoria sent greetings to Buchanan over the first Atlantic cable. In winter, Americans went riding in horse-drawn sleighs and sang a new tune called "Jingle Bells."

Franklin Pierce (1804-1869)

Franklin Pierce (1804-1869), served as President during a period of increasing bitterness between North and South that later led to the Civil War. He won the Democratic nomination for President in 1852 after the four strongest candidates had fought to a stalemate. Pierce gained support because he strongly favored the Compromise of 1850, which sought to settle the slavery dispute. "If the compromise measures are not ... firmly maintained," he said, "the Constitution will be trampled in the dust." At 48, Pierce became the youngest President up to that time.

The personal good looks of Pierce and his brilliant speaking manner impressed all who met him. People in New Hampshire respected his service as a U.S. Representative and Senator, and as a brigadier general in the Mexican War. But few persons outside his home state had heard of Pierce until he ran for President.

As President, Pierce faced two difficult problems: (1) growing Northern opposition to any expansion of slavery, and (2) rising prejudice against immigrants. He angered Northerners by supporting the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which made slavery possible in a large area in the West. This act provided the issue that created the Republican party. Pierce stirred up further opposition when he protected the rights of immigrants. Those opposed to granting rights to immigrants also formed a new party, called the Know-Nothing, or American, party. By the time Pierce's term ended, the Democratic party had lost much of its strength. Few Democrats favored Pierce for re-election.

The years of Pierce's administration marked one of the most prosperous periods in American history. The California gold rush still attracted men westward. Federal grants of land spurred railroads to extend their lines westward. And the Gadsden Purchase added land from Mexico to the territory of New Mexico. The literary world discussed such works as Thoreau's Walden, Longfellow's The Song of Hiawatha, and Whitman's Leaves of Grass. People hummed Stephen Foster's "My Old Kentucky Home, Good Night." At Christmas-time in 1855, carolers sang "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" for the first time.

Millard Fillmore (1800-1874)

Millard Fillmore (1800-1874), the second Vice-President to inherit the nation's highest office, became President when Zachary Taylor died. During his 32 months in office, Fillmore's most important action was his approval of the Compromise of 1850. This series of laws helped delay the Civil War for more than 10 years.

A self-made man, Fillmore had been a poor boy who was once a clothmaker's apprentice. He studied law, then won election to the New York state legislature and to Congress. He became known nationally only after the Whig political party chose him to be Taylor's Vice-Presidential running mate in 1848.

As Vice-President, Fillmore presided cooly over the heated Senate debates between slavery and antislavery forces. The Compromise of 1850, which he helped achieve, had been opposed by President Taylor because of its concessions to the South. But when Taylor died, Fillmore urged passage of the compromise, and quickly signed it into law. Fillmore personally did not approve of slavery. But he loved the Union, and preferred compromise to the risk of war.

Fillmore faithfully enforced the compromise, including its provision for the return of runaway slaves. This policy lost him the support of most Northerners, and he was not nominated for President in 1852.

A conservative dresser, Fillmore always wore a dark frock coat and a high-collared shirt with a black silk neckcloth tied in a bow in front. He had kindly blue eyes and a gracious, courteous manner. People admired his modesty. When Oxford University offered him an honorary degree, Fillmore replied that he had done nothing to deserve the honor, and would not accept it.

Zachary Taylor (1784-1850)

Zachary Taylor (1784-1850), served his country for 40 years as a soldier and for 16 months as President. His courage and ability during the Mexican War made him a national hero. Taylor showed the same courage while he was President, but he died before he could prove his full abilities as a statesman. He was succeeded by Vice-President Millard Fillmore.

President Taylor was one of the largest slaveowners of the South. But he did not oppose admitting California and New Mexico to the Union as free states. The South demanded that other slavery problems be settled before those territories became states, and threatened to secede. The President replied that he was ready to take his place at the head of the army to put down any such action. Taylor died at the height of this argument. Fillmore's policies delayed the Civil War for 10 years.

Taylor made his greatest contribution to his country as a soldier. This quiet, friendly man was no military genius. But he was a good leader. He never lost a battle. His troops nicknamed him "Old Rough and Ready."

James K. Polk (1795-1849)

James K. Polk (1795-1849), was President when the United States achieved its greatest territorial growth. During his presidency, the American flag was raised over most of the area now forming nine Western States, and Texas became a member of the Union. Polk successfully directed the Mexican War, which won much of this territory. He carried out every item of his political program. Of all American Presidents, only George Washington had such a clear record of success.

Polk's era was the "Fabulous 40's." The country seethed with excitement, energy, and prosperity. Covered wagons were beating out the Oregon Trail across the prairies and mountains to the Pacific Coast. The telegraph, a new wonder, carried news of
Polk's nomination. The discovery of gold in California started one of the greatest movements of people in American history. On their way west, the "forty-niners" sang such songs as "Be Kind to the Loved
Ones at Home" and Stephen Foster's "Oh! Susanna." Such authors and poets as Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Longfellow, Lowell, Whittier, and Poe produced the "Golden Age of American letters."

The national scene had its unpleasant side, too. Reformers called attention to the hardships of children working in factories and to the poverty of immigrants. Slavery rested uneasily in the thoughts of many Americans.

A lack of concern by Polk for these social problems made reformers dislike him. They regarded him as a tool of the slaveowners. Their unfriendly writings outlived Polk's reputation for success. This explains why, for a time, history held Polk in low regard.

Although Polk was a close friend and follower of Andrew Jackson, he lacked Jackson's personal attraction. He was cold, silent, narrow, and ungenerous. He did not seek a second term, and few people regretted it.

The nomination of Polk by the Democratic party surprised the nation. But he defeated the Whig candidate, the famous Henry Clay, because he understood the desire of Americans to see the United States become more powerful. Like most Americans of his day, Polk believed it was the "manifest destiny" of the United States to expand across North America. In this sense he appears to deserve the tribute of George Bancroft, the great historian who served as his Secretary of the Navy. Bancroft called Polk "prudent, farsighted ... one of the very foremost of our public men, and one of the very best and most honest and most successful Presidents the country ever had."

John Tyler (1790-1862)

John Tyler (1790-1862), was the first Vice-President to become President upon the death of a Chief Executive. He succeedded William Henry Harrison, who died a month after taking office. Tyler, a Southern Democrat, had split with his party and had run with Harrison on thw Whig party ticket.

As President, Tyler soon became a man without a party. The Whig program clashed with many of Tyler's lifelong beliefs. He vetoed almost every important bill. Angry Whigs tried to impeach him, the first such move against a President. They failed, but the resulting friction destroyed the Whig program.

For more than 75 years after the courteous, soft-spoken Tyler left office, historians dealt harshly with him. President Theodore Roosevelt summed up this opinion when he said: "Tyler has been called a mediocre man, but this is unwarranted flattery. He was a politician of monumental littleness."

Many historians today take a different view. They regard Tyler as a President of exceptional courage and imagination who displayed great devotion to the principles of Thomas Jefferson. He inherited a political situation he had never expected, and could not support. He could not have acted other than the way he did.

Historians also point to Tyler as the man who firmly established the right of the Vice-President to succeed completely to the Presidency. When Harrison died, many Whig leaders suggested that Tyler be called only "Acting President." Tyler, with a patience that irritated his enemies even further, took over the presidency in fact as well as in name.

During Tyler's administration, many regions began to show signs of their future importance. Pittsburgh was becoming the home of busy ironworks. Cincinnati boasted of its well-paved streets and its schools that required children from 6 to 10 years old to learn algebra. Texas won its long fight to join the Union. Fighting with the Seminole Indians in Florida ended in 1842. Just two days after he signed the billapproving statehood for Texas, Tyler signed a bill making Florida a state. In New York City, stylish young men turned their shirt collars down and let their chin whiskers grow.

William Henry Harrison (1773-1841)

William Henry Harrison (1773-1841), caught cold the day he was inaugurated President, and died 30 days later. At 68, Harrison was the oldest man to become President, and the first to die in office. He served the shortest term of any President in American history.

Harrison is best remembered as the first half of the catchy political campaign slogan "Tippercanoe and Tyler too." He had received the nickname "Tippercanoe" after defeating the Shawnee Indians in 1811 at the Battle of Tippercanoe. The Whig party first ran Harrison for President against Democrat Martin Van Buren in 1836. He lost. Then they ran him again in 1840. Using his colorful military career as their theme, the Whigs turned the campaign of 1840 into a circus. This time, Harrison defeated President Van Buren. Harrison was the first Whig President, and the only Chief Executive whose grandson (Benjamin Harrison) also became President.

During his brief term, Harrison showed an interest in running the government efficiently. He made surprise visits to government offices to check on the workers. Upon Harrison'a death, his office fell to Vice-President John Tyler, a former Virginia Democrat. The Whigs had nominated Tyler to attract Southern votes. But when Tyler became President, the Whigs unhappily learned that he still believed in many of the ideas of the Democratic party. He vetoed bill after bill, and destroyed the Whig program in Congress.

Martin Van Buren (1782-1862)

Martin Van Buren (1782-1862), ran for President three times, but won only the first time. He served during the nations first great depression, the Panic of 1837. The panic brought financial ruin and misery to millions. Many turned to the government for help, but Van Buren refused all public aid. He believed in Thomas Jefferson's theories that government should play the smallest possible role in American life. "The less government interferes," Van Buren explained, "the better for general prosperity."

Van Buren's erect bearing and high, broad forehead, gave him a dignified appearance. He had served as Vice-President under Andrew Jackson, and, as President, Van Buren inherited much of Jackson's popularity. But during the three years of the panic, Van Buren bore the anger of a disappointed people. His enemies accused him of being a sly, scheming politician. They called him "The Little Magician" and "The Fox of Kinderhook." They ridiculed his courteous manners. When Van Buren continued to deal politely with his political rivals, they said this showed his lack of deep convictions.

By defending his Jeffersonian ideals, Van Buren demonstrated that actually he had both deep convictions and courage. Partly because he refused to compromise, Van Buren was defeated in re-election in 1840 by William Henry Harrison, whom he had beaten in 1836. Van Buren ran again for President in 1848, but finished a poor third.

In Van Buren's time, Washington, D.C., was still a city of muddy streets and few trees. One traveler said: "It looks as if it had rained naked buildings upon an open plain." But life in the capital reflected the excitement of a growing country. The first railroad into Washington was completed in time to bring visitors from New York City and Philadelphia to Van Buren's inauguration. Frontiersmen such as Sam Houston mingled with courtly Southernors and proper New Englanders. Washington hostesses sought out the popular author, Washington Irving, for their dinner parties. Out West, the frontier town of Chicago became an incorporated city, and the Republic of Texas began its fight for statehood.

Andrew Jackson (1767-1845)

Andrew Jackson (1767-1845), was the first President born in a log cabin. Earlier Presidents had come from well-to-do families. Jackson, the son of poor Scottish-Irish immigrants, became an orphan at 14. He grew up on the frontier of the Carolinas. Then he moved to Tennessee, where he became a successful lawyer and landowner. Jackson won fame as an Indian fighter and as a general in the War of 1812. He was nicknamed "Old Hickory" because of his toughness.

Jackson was one of the founders of the Democratic party. He won election as President because of the growing political power of new states on the frontier. He had the support of farmers and workingmen. Jackson had a great influence on American political life. Earlier Presidents generally had not provided strong leadership. They did not appeal to the people over the heads of Congress. Jackson insisted that American democracy could work only if the President provided such leadership. He believed that the President should use his constitutional powers to the fullest limit. Jackson vetoed more bills than all the Presidents before him put together. He stood ready to argue with Congress or the Supreme Court in the name of all the people. His slogan was: "Let the people rule."

The 20-year period after Jackson became President is often called the Age of Jackson. It has been described as the years of "the rise of the common man." Under Jackson's leadership, his followers tried to win reforms in the states. They demanded state regulation and inspection of banks. They fought for the right of workers to organize labor unions, and called for a 10-hour workday. They sought adoption of the secret ballot in elections. When Jackson began his second term in 1833, he became the first President who had been nominated by a national political convention.

During Jackson's presidency, the opening of land in the west sped up the westward movement. Wild speculation on land, roads, canals, and cotton led to a business depression in the late 1830's. William Lloyd Garrison organized one of the first societies favoring an end to slavery. The New York Sun became America's first successful penny newspaper. Peter Cooper built the first American steam locomotive used for passenger service, and Jackson became the first President to take a train ride.

John Quincy Adams (1767-1848)

John Quincy Adams (1767-1848), was the only son of a President, until George Bush Sr. and George Bush Jr., who also became President. Like his father, John Adams, he failed to win a second term. But soon afterward he was elected to the House of Representatives. This pleased him more, he said, than his election as President.

Before entering the presidency, Adams held several important diplomatic posts. He took part in the negotiations that ended the War of 1812. As Secretary of State, he helped develop the Monroe Doctrine. Quarels within his party hampered Adams as President, and he made little progress with his ambitious legislative program. His years in the White House were perhaps the unhappiest period of Adams' life.

Adams was short and stout, and his shrill voice often broke when he became excited. Yet he spoke so well that he was nicknamed "Old Man Eloquent." Adams was affectionate with close friends, but more reserved toward others. He once referred to himself as "an unsocial savage."

During Adams' administration, Noah Webster brought out his two-volume American Dictionary of the English Language, and James Fenimore Cooper published his famous novel "The Last of the Mohicans". The American labor movement began in Philadelphia.

James Monroe (1758-1831)

James Monroe (1758-1831), is best remebered for the Monroe Doctrine, which he proclaimed in 1823. This historic policy warned European countries not to interfere with the free nations of the Western Hemisphere.

Monroe became President after more than 40 years of public service. He had fought in the Revolutionary War. During the first years after independence, he had served in the Virginia Assembly and in the Congress of the Confederation. He later became a U.S. Senator; minister to France, Spain, and Great Britain; and governor of Virginia. During the War of 1812, he served as Secretary of State and Secretary of War at the same time.

In appearance and manner, Monroe resembled his fellow Virginian, George Washington. He was tall and rawboned, and had a military bearing. His gray-blue eyes invited confidence. Even John Quincy Adams, who criticized almost everyone, spoke well of Monroe.

At his inauguration, Monroe still wore his hair in the old-fashioned way, powdered and tied in a queue at the back. He favored suits of black broadcloth with knee breeches and buckles on the shoes. To the people, he represented the almost legendary heroism of the generation which led the country to freedom.

As President, Monroe presided quietly during a period known as "the era of good feeling." He looked forward to America's glorious future, the outlines of which emerged rapidly during his presidency. The frontier was moving rapidly westward, and small cities sprang up west of the Mississippi River. Monroe sent General Andrew Jackson on a military expedition into Florida which resulted in the purchase of Florida from Spain. Rapidly expanding frontiers soon caused Americans to consider whether slavery should be permitted in the new territories. The Missouri Compromise "settled" this problem for nearly 30 years by setting definite limits to the extension of slavery in land lying within the Louisiana Purchase area.

James Madison (1751-1836)

James Madison (1751-1836), is called "the Father of the Constitution." He planned the system of checks and balances that regulate the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the United States government. Madison served his country in many public offices during a period of 40 years. As Secretary of State and as President, he kept the United States out of the Napoleonic Wars. But, reluctantly, he led the country into the War of 1812. After the war, Madison's wise policies encouraged national growth.

Madison was a close friend of Thomas Jefferson, whom he followed in the presidency. Together, these two Virginians made an unexcelled team in constructive statesmanship. Madison displayed skill at solving difficult problems of government. Jefferson contributed a fine ability to phrase political truths. Their close agreement on political matters led them to join in organizing the Democratic-Republican party.

Physically small and frail, Madison did as much as any American toward building a strong federal government. At the Constitutional Convention, he worked to strengthen the national union of states. He spoke out fearlessly for nationalism when most Americans put states' rights ahead of the national interest. But Madison was by nature a mediator. He resisted Alexander Hamilton's tendency to strengthen the federal government at the expense of the states. He also softened Jefferson's views favoring states' rights. Most Americans today accept Madison's view on the relationship between the states and the federal government, rather than the extreme views of either Hamilton or Jefferson.

Streams of settlers surged westward during Madison's administration. The lack of imported goods during the War of 1812 encouraged industries to expand, and set the country on the path to becoming an industrial nation. The war also gave the American people their national anthem. Early one morning, as British shells burst about Fort McHenry in Baltimore harbor, Francis Scott Key wrote "The Star-Spangled Banner."

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), is best remembered as a great President and as the author of the Declaration of Independence. He also won lasting fame as a diplomat, a political thinker, and a founder of the Democratic party.

Jefferson's interests and talents covered an amazing range. He became the foremost American architect of his time. He designed the Virginia Capitol, the University of Virginia, and his own home, Monticello. As a scientific farmer, he cultivated the finest gardens in America. His many inventions included the swivel chair and the dumb-waiter. Jefferson's excellent library became the nucleus of the Library of Congress. He drafted Virginia's civil code, and founded its state university. He devised the convenient decimal system of coinage that allows Americans to keep accounts in dollars and cents. He also found time to write a Manual of Parliamentary Practice, to prepare written vocabularies of Indian languages, and to play the violin in chamber music concerts.

Jefferson regarded himself as a public-spirited citizen and a broad-minded, practical thinker, rather than as a professional politician. He once wrote: "I had rather be shut up in a very modest cottage, with my books, my family and a few old friends, dining on simple bacon, and letting the world roll on as it liked than to occupy the most splendid post which any human power can give." Yet his country needed his talents, and he contributed them. Jefferson cherished liberty in every form, and was largely responsible for the Bill of Rights that guarantees the basic American freedoms.

The tall red-haired Virginian believed that "those who labor in the earth are the chosen people of God." The term Jeffersonian Democracy refers to his ideal of a nation of landowning farmers living under as little government as possible.

Jefferson molded the American spirit and mind. Every later generation has turned to him for inspiration. Through 60 years of public service, he remained faithful to his vow of "eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."

During Jefferson's two terms as President, the United States doubled in area with the purchase of the vast Louisiana Territory. America preserved its hard-won neutrality while Napolean's armies battled most of Europe. Congress passed a law banning the slave trade. A trip from New York City to Philadelphia took two days by stagecoach. But the first successful voyage of Robert Fulton's steamboat, the Clermont, signalled a new era in transportation. Washington Irving, one of the first American authors to gain recognition abroad, was writing his Knickerbocker's History of New York. And Noah Webster published his first dictionary.

John Adams (1735-1826)

John Adams (1735-1826), guided the young United States through some of its most serious troubles. He served under George Washington as the first Vice-President, and followed him as the second President. The government moved from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C., during Adams' administration, and he became the first President to live in the White House. He was the only Chief Executive whose son also served as President until George Bush Sr. and George Bush Jr.

Adams played a leading role in the Declaration of Independence, and was a signer of the historic document. He had spoken out boldly for separation from Great Britain at a time when most colonial leaders still hoped to settle their differences with the British. As President, Adams fought a split in his own party over his determination to avoid war with France. He kept the peace, but in the process he lost a second term as President. Adams was succeeded by Thomas Jefferson.

In appearance, Adams was short and stout, with a ruddy complexion. He seldom achieved popularity during his long political career. Adams was anything but a cold man, and those who knew him well, loved him. But his bluntness, impatience, and vanity made more enemies than friends. On the great decisions of his public career, history has proved him right and his opponents wrong. But his clumsiness in human relations often caused him to be misunderstood. Few persons knew about another part of Adams' personality. His diary and personal letters show his genial, affectionate, and often playful nature.

During Adams' term, Eli Whitney introduced the system of interchangeable parts in his firearms factory at Whitneyville, Conn. Whitney's wisdom led to the mass-production methods of today. The first woolen mills began operating in Massachusetts, and Congress established the Department of the Navy and the Marine Corps. Americans enjoyed such songs as "The Wearing of the Green" and "The Blue Bells of Scotland." People read and admired The Life and Memorable Actions of George Washington by Mason Locke Weems. On the frontier, Johnny Appleseed began wandering through Ohio and Indiana, planting appleseeds and teaching the Bible.

George Washington (1732-1799)

George Washington (1732-1799), won a lasting place in American history as the "Father of His Country." For nearly 20 years, he guided his country much as a father cares for a growing child.

In three important ways, Washington helped shape the beginning of the United States. First, he commanded the Continental Army that won American independence from Great Britain in the Revolutionary War. Second, Washington served as president of the convention that wrote the United States Constitution. Third, he was the first man elected President of the United States.

The people of his day loved Washington. His army officers would have made him king if he had let them. From the Revolutionary War on, his birthday was celebrated each year throughout the country.

Washington lived an exciting life in exciting times. As a boy, he explored the wilderness. When he grew older, he helped the British fight the French and Indians. Many times he was nearly killed. As a general, he suffered hardships with his troops in the cold winters at Valley Forge, Pa., and Morristown, N.J. He lost many battles, but led the American army to final victory at Yorktown, Va. After he became President, he successfully solved many problems in turning the plans of the Constitution into a working government.

Washington went to school only until he was about 14 or 15. But he learned to make the most of all his abilities and opportunities. His remarkable patience and his understanding of others helped him win people to his side in times of hardship and discouragement.

There are great differences between the United States of Washington's day and that of today. The new nation was small and weak. It stretched west only to the Mississippi River and had fewer than 4,000,000 people. Most persons made their livings by farming. Few children went to school. Few men or women could read or write. Transportation and communication were slow. It took Washington 3 days to travel about 90 miles from New York City to Philadelphia, longer than it now takes to fly around the world. There were only 11 states in the Union when Washington became President and 16 when he left office.

Many stories have been told about Washington. Most are probably not true. So far as we know, he did not chop down his father's cherry tree, then confess by saying: "Father, I cannot tell a lie." He probably never threw a stone across the broad Rappahannock River. But such stories show that people were willing to believe almost anything about his honesty and his great strength. One of Washington's officers, Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee, summed up the way Americans felt and still feel about Washington:

"First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen."

Washington the Man

Washington's appearance caused admiration and respect. He was tall, strong, and broad-shouldered. As he grew older, cares lined his face and gave him a somewhat stern look. Perhaps the best description of Washington was written by a friend, George Mercer, in 1760:

"He may be described as being straight as an Indian, measuring 6 feet 2 inches in his stockings, and weighing 175 pounds ... A large and straight rather than a prominent nose; blue-gray penetrating eyes ... He has a clear though rather colorless pale sking which burns with the sun ... dark brown hair which he wears in a queue ... His mouth is large and generally firmly closed, but which from time to time discloses some defective teeth ... His movements and gestures are graceful, his walk majestic, and he is a splendid horseman."

Washington set his own strict rules of conduct, but he also enjoyed having a good time. He laughed at jokes, though he seldom told any.

One of the best descriptions of Washington's character was written after his death by his good friend Thomas Jefferson:

"His mind was great and powerful ... as far as he saw, no judgement was ever sounder. It was slow in operation, being little aided by invention or imagination, but sure in conclusion ..."

"Perhaps the strongest feature in his character was prudence, never acting until every circumstance, every consideration, was maturely weighed; refraining when he saw a doubt, but, when once decided, going through with his purpose whatever obstacles opposed."

"His integrity was most pure, his justice the most inflexible I have ever known ..." 

"He was indeed, in every sense of the words, a wise, a good and a great man ... On the whole, his character was, in its mass, perfect ... It may truly be said, that never did nature and fortune combine more perfectly to make a man great ..."